Vapor chamber with inner ridge forming passage

ABSTRACT

A vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages, including: a first board having, defined thereon, a heating region, a thermally-insulating region and a condensing region; a second board coupled to the first board; a first wick disposed at the second board or the first board and extending from the heating region to the thermally-insulating region at the very least; and a working fluid. An inner ridge protrudes from the first board toward the second board and has bumps spaced apart by a predetermined distance. Some of the bumps are slender, flank predetermined routes, and are spaced apart to form passages, with the passages extending from the heating region to the condensing region via the thermally-insulating region. Ends of the bumps press against the first wick or the second board.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to vapor chambers and, more particularly, to a vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional vapor chamber usually comprises two boards which are not only overlapped but are also peripherally welded, allowing a hermetically sealed cavity to be formed inside the conventional vapor chamber. A wick structure and a working fluid are disposed in the hermetically sealed cavity. The working fluid undergoes liquid-gas phase changes to achieve heat transfer and uniform distribution of temperature.

Taiwan patent 1476361 discloses a vapor chamber wick forming method and a structure of the same, characterized in that the vapor chamber has therein support protrusions conducive to enhancement of support strength, heat transfer, and uniform distribution of temperature. However, Taiwan patent 1476361 has a drawback: a gaseous working fluid and a liquid working fluid in the vapor chamber flow freely rather than in a guided manner. Therefore, Taiwan patent 1476361 fails to enhance heat transfer and uniform distribution of temperature.

Taiwan patent M532046, which was previously filed by the applicant of the patent application based on the present invention, is directed to a vapor chamber with a liquid-gas separation structure. Taiwan patent M532046 discloses how to effectuate a guided flow of a liquid working fluid and a gaseous working fluid and thereby enhance heat transfer and uniform distribution of temperature in the vapor chamber. However, Taiwan patent M532046 has a drawback: in practice, a gaseous working fluid channel is closed on all sides except for the two ends. In fact, it is unnecessary for the gaseous working fluid channel of Taiwan patent M532046 to be closed on all sides except for the two ends, because an appropriate degree of openness and an appropriate degree of a guided flow together enhance circulation of the gaseous working fluid. Furthermore, arrangement of a wick of Taiwan patent M532046 is not required for circulation of a liquid working fluid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A conventional vapor chamber usually lacks a guided flow technology applicable to a liquid working fluid and a gaseous working fluid in it. Even when such a guided flow technology is available, technologies of smoothening the flow of the liquid working fluid and the gaseous working fluid still have room for improvement.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages so as to render a guided flow variably open by guiding the flow of a gaseous working fluid and allowing the gaseous working fluid to exit the passages laterally while flowing along the passages, smoothen the flow of the gaseous working fluid, and prevent the liquid working fluid from sputtering which might otherwise be caused by the flow of the gaseous working fluid.

In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the present invention provides a vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages, comprising: a first board having, defined thereon, a heating region, a thermally-insulating region and a condensing region; a second board coupled to the first board, allowing a receiving space to be formed between the first board and the second board and hermetically sealed; a first wick disposed at one of the second board and the first board and extending from the heating region to the thermally-insulating region at the very least; and a working fluid for filling the receiving space; characterized in that: an inner ridge protrudes from the first board, reaches the receiving space, and has bumps spaced apart by a predetermined distance, wherein some of the bumps are slender, flank predetermined routes, and are spaced apart to form passages, with the passages extending from the heating region to the condensing region via the thermally-insulating region; ends of the bumps press against one of the first wick and the second board.

Owing to gaps between bumps which flank passages, a guided flow of a gaseous working fluid is rendered variably open by guiding the flow of the gaseous working fluid and allowing the gaseous working fluid to exit the passages laterally while flowing along the passages, so as to smoothen the flow of the gaseous working fluid and prevent the liquid working fluid from sputtering which might otherwise be caused by the flow of the gaseous working fluid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vapor chamber according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the vapor chamber according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken of the vapor chamber along line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged view of the vapor chamber according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a top view of some components of the vapor chamber according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing a first board;

FIG. 6 is a partial top view of the vapor chamber according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing that the first board is covered with a first wick;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of some components of the vapor chamber according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing that the first board is covered with a first wick;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken of the vapor chamber according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention at an angle similar to that of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the vapor chamber according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Technical features of the present invention are hereunder illustrated with preferred embodiments, depicted with the accompanying drawings, and described below.

Referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 6, a vapor chamber 10 with an inner ridge forming passages according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention essentially comprises a first board 11, a second board 21, a first wick 31, second wicks 35 and a working fluid.

The first board 11 has, defined thereon, a heating region H, a thermally-insulating region A and a condensing region C.

The second board 21 is coupled to the first board 11. A receiving space 22 is formed between the first board 11 and the second board 21 and hermetically sealed.

The first wick 31 is disposed at the second board 21. The first wick 31 extends from the heating region H to the thermally-insulating region A and then extends to the condensing region C. The first wick 31 is formed by mesh or by sintering copper powders. In the first preferred embodiment, the first wick 31 is formed by mesh for exemplary purposes, planar, and covers the heating region H and the thermally-insulating region A.

The second wicks 35 are each slender and of a predetermined thickness, disposed at the first board 11, and in contact with the first wick 31. The second wicks 35 extend from the heating region H to the condensing region C via the thermally-insulating region A. The second wicks 35 are fiber bundles, copper powders or mesh. This preferred embodiment is exemplified by fiber bundles. In a variant embodiment, only one said second wick 35 is provided, as one second wick is sufficient for a slender vapor chamber (not shown in the accompanying drawings, because a slender vapor chamber is defined in a third preferred embodiment of the present invention and depicted.)

The working fluid disposed into the receiving space 22. The working fluid is absorbed into the first wick 31 and the second wicks 35 and thus is difficult to depict. Furthermore, the working fluid is a required element well known among persons skilled in the art and thus is not shown in the accompanying drawings.

An inner ridge 12 protrudes from a side of the first board 11 and reaches the receiving space 22, wherein the side of the first board 11 faces the second board 21. The inner ridge 12 has bumps 121. The bumps 121 are spaced apart by a predetermined distance. Some of the bumps 121 are slender. The slender bumps 121 flank predetermined routes and are spaced apart to form passages P. The passages P extend from the heating region H to the condensing region C via the thermally-insulating region A. The width of a gap G between any two adjacent bumps 121 beside any one of the passages P is smaller than or equal to the width of the passage P; hence, most of a gaseous working fluid takes the passage P, but just a small amount of the gaseous working fluid is discharged from the gap G. The second wicks 35 are disposed in some of the passages P. Although the inner ridge 12 in this preferred embodiment is integrally formed from the first board 11 for exemplary purposes, the inner ridge 12 may also be formed on the first board 11 by sintering copper powders thereon.

The ends of the bumps 121 disposed at the heating region H and the thermally-insulating region A press against the first wick 31. The bumps 121 disposed at the condensing region C press against the second board 21.

The framework of the first preferred embodiment is described above. The operating state of the first preferred embodiment is described below.

Referring to FIG. 5, the vapor chamber 10 of the first preferred embodiment is adhered to a heating element (not shown) in such a manner that the heating region H corresponds in position to the heating element. When the heating element generates heat, the liquid working fluid absorbed into the first wick 31 disposed at the heating region H is heated and evaporated to turn into a gaseous working fluid. The gaseous working fluid moves between the passages P and the bumps 121 which do not form the passages P and moves from the heating region H to the condensing region C via the thermally-insulating region A. The gaseous working fluid in the condensing region C condenses and turns into a liquid working fluid. The liquid working fluid is absorbed into the second wicks 35 in the condensing region C and then guided quickly to the heating region H by capillary action. The liquid working fluid passing the second wicks 35 also moves to the heating region H through the first wick 31 by capillary action. Therefore, the vapor chamber of the present invention is good at circulation of the liquid working fluid and the gaseous working fluid and thereby achieves heat transfer and uniform distribution of temperature.

In the aforesaid operating state, the passages P are conducive to a guided flow of the gaseous working fluid so that the gaseous working fluid is guided easily to the condensing region C. The gaseous working fluid slightly exits the gap G between any two adjacent slender bumps 121 which flank any one of the passages P, and thus the guided flow of the gaseous working fluid is variably open. The two sides of each of the passages P are not completely closed in order to guide the gaseous working fluid; instead, a portion of the gaseous working fluid moves out of the passages P through the gap G between the bumps 121, whereas the remainder of the gaseous working fluid is still being guided. Hence, the gaseous working fluid is substantially guided by the passages P and thus moves slowly along the passages P to bring two advantages: the liquid working fluid absorbed into the first wick 31 is less likely to sputter; and the gaseous working fluid flows smoothly.

Referring to FIG. 7 through FIG. 8, a vapor chamber 10′ with an inner ridge forming passages in a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is similar to its counterpart in the first preferred embodiment of the present invention except for the technical features described below.

The first wick 31′ not only covers the heating region H′ and the thermally-insulating region A′ but also covers the condensing region C′, whereas the ends of the bumps 121′ press against the first wick 31′ fully.

The second preferred embodiment dispenses with the second wicks.

The second preferred embodiment is similar to the first preferred embodiment in terms of the operating state except that, to maintain its circulation, the liquid working fluid is guided from the condensing region C′ to the heating region H′ solely by the first wick 31′.

The remaining structures and achievable advantages of the second preferred embodiment are substantially the same as those of the first preferred embodiment and thus are not described herein for the sake of brevity.

Referring to FIG. 9, a vapor chamber 10″ with an inner ridge forming passages in the third preferred embodiment of the present invention is substantially the same as that in the first preferred embodiment except for the technical features described below.

The first wick 31″ is slender and of a predetermined thickness, extends from the heating region H″ to the condensing region C″ via the thermally-insulating region A″, and lies in one of the passages P″.

The third preferred embodiment dispenses with the second wicks.

The third preferred embodiment is similar to the first preferred embodiment in terms of the operating state except that, to maintain its circulation, the liquid working fluid is guided from the condensing region C″ to the heating region H″ solely by the first wick 31″.

The remaining structures and achievable advantages of the third preferred embodiment are substantially the same as those of the first preferred embodiment and thus are not described herein for the sake of brevity. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages, comprising: a first board having, defined thereon, a heating region, a thermally-insulating region and a condensing region; a second board coupled to the first board, allowing a receiving space to be formed between the first board and the second board and hermetically sealed; a first wick disposed at one of the second board and the first board and extending from the heating region to the thermally-insulating region at the very least; and a working fluid for filling the receiving space; characterized in that: an inner ridge protrudes from the first board, reaches the receiving space, and has bumps spaced apart by a predetermined distance, wherein some of the bumps are slender, flank predetermined routes, and are spaced apart to form passages, with the passages extending from the heating region to the condensing region via the thermally-insulating region; ends of the bumps press against the first wick or press against the first wick and the second board.
 2. The vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages according to claim 1, wherein the first wick is formed by one of mesh and sintering copper powders, planar, and covers the heating region and the thermally-insulating region, whereas the ends of the bumps disposed at the heating region and the thermally-insulating region press against the first wick, and the bumps disposed at the condensing region press against the second board.
 3. The vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages according to claim 2, further comprising at least a second wick disposed at one of the first board and the second board, being in contact with the first wick, each being slender, each being of a predetermined thickness, extending from the heating region to the condensing region via the thermally-insulating region, and disposed in portions of the passages.
 4. The vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages according to claim 3, wherein the at least a second wick is one of fiber bundles, copper powders and mesh.
 5. The vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages according to claim 2, wherein the first wick further covers the condensing region, and the ends of the bumps press against the first wick fully.
 6. The vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages according to claim 1, wherein the first wick is slender and of a predetermined thickness, extends from the heating region to the condensing region via the thermally-insulating region, and lies in one of the passages.
 7. The vapor chamber with an inner ridge filming passages according to claim 1, wherein a width of a gap between any two adjacent bumps beside any one of the passages is smaller than or equal to a width of the passage.
 8. The vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages according to claim 1, wherein the inner ridge protrudes from a side of the first board, and the side of the first board faces the second board.
 9. The vapor chamber with an inner ridge forming passages according to claim 1, wherein the inner ridge is formed on the first board by sintering copper powders thereon. 